Beside the Sea

My formative years were spent living by the sea – literally. Gulls abounded, screaming and swirling above our little heads, ever on the lookout for a dropped morsel or two. For a laugh we'd throw stale bread crusts into the air and watch them fight over them as they headed towards earth. Rarely did one ever reach the ground.

 Our  family of six  was squashed like sardines  into a little Victorian semi in the old part of Poole. 

The house  faced onto the train station - great for  budding steam engine spotters  and for hanging from bridges getting coated in the smoke  from the old  engines. More than once we'd come home and complain of 'something in our eyes' only to be told it was our own fault!

The back garden ended with the sea wall. Beyond that lay the tidal flats for as far as the eye could see and a host of brightly coloured boats of all shapes and sizes that  bobbed soporifically  up and down as the sea silently crept in and out.

 In those days we didn’t really appreciate the location, just seemed to take it for granted that this was home. Nowadays the views alone would set you back half a million or so.

Not surprisingly then I’m always thinking of the seaside and with all this warm weather I’ve turned my thoughts into little creations.

Hope you like this nod and a wink to halcyon days to come.....oh I do miss being by the seaside.